What an incredible transformation and a beautiful reveal. Such a great example of what a difference it can make to remove upper cabinets. It looks like a joy to cook in.

What a stunning transformation! I love your countertops. I think this is the first kitchen reveal I've sen with Neolith. They are gorgeous! As is your range, your windows, and your entire kitchen :-)

Looks awesome! Amazing transformation!

Well done! Enjoy it!

Can we ask the SF cost of your stunning Neolith?

Also, your location and the name of the company that installed it?

NICE!!!

I don't know the square footage price. But they were about $1200 more than Ceaserstone. We got it from Stone Designs in Glendale Heights, IL. I don't remember the fabricator's name.

I will show this to my daughter. She has a similar space to work with and yours came out beautifully. Love your new "mudroom". The counter is very pretty. The fridge wall is very nice too.

Thanks for letting me share here. People on this board really notice every detail, which is cool when you put so much time into deciding every detail. The fridge used to be the old entrance and next to the stove was the basement stairs. We moved the stairs to get that wall of 'food storage.'

The fridge/pantry wall before:

Oh my - I absolutely love the way the frame around the peninsula frames the kitchen and shows off the hood, the windows, the counter expanse and the pendant lights. It's just such a pretty picture. The counter expanse between the stove and MW must be so useful. And that curved counter with the stool - what a great place to just sit and write up grocery lists and drink coffee (at least that's what I would do!)

What a transformation in terms of function and brightness and it really is a delightful space.

Wow, so lovely! And a well thought out lay-out, too.

Love the "wall of tall" at the end. I think moving fridge, etc to that end wall is a part of why your modest sized kitchen looks larger than it is. And no corner cabinets to boot. Would you please post a fridge wall "before" shot?

I was totally fooled by your counters. I thought there were marble until I read further and then I had to go back and look again. I miss my porcelain tiled island but we just could not afford Neolith or ThinSlab (another large format porcelain slab product). I'm happy with what we did install (Steel Gray and Bianco Romano granites) but I miss the ability to set hot things directly on the counter without worrying about damaging the counter.

Love the (ha) star quality of that pop of color from Blue Star.

Nice touch repeating the molding above your fridge and tall cab to the trim along the front of the soffit on the range wall.

Details, please!

Well done! I wish you lots of happy times in your kitchen.

PS Was that really a desk next to your fridge? What a crazy place to put it. Smart move getting the desk out of the kitchen.

We were cross-posting so I didn't see the "before" of your fridge wall until now. Smart use of space.

Serene and WoW at the same time. I love your windows over the counter top (so much light in there), the frame around the peninsula and the way the counter wraps behind that wall like blfenton mentions. Very nice kitchen and looks like a great place to cook and hang out in. Nice command/organization center too. :) Fantastic that it works and flows for you and is gorgeous to look at.

Enjoy!

Awesome job! I especially love the back closet and....yes I'm going to say this...the soffit above the windows.

Jojo...Absolutely fabulous!! It closely resembles my current mockup, so it's really nice to see how it will look once completed. I had another question for you...Do you have the cabinet specs for your built in microwave? It's EXACTLY what we have planned for ours. We are doing Barker RTA, so I have to order them myself. I don't want to mess it up!!

Kimmy_Ma the microwave cabinet is 27" wide and I believe the microwave is actually 24" (it's a micro/convection oven). We then bought the trim kit for it fit the opening. It's Panasonic.

Thanks! DH and are admiring your kitchen now!!

Jdez, thanks for calling my attention to that soffit. I like it, too!

Ditto thanking Jdez for mentioning the soffit. They aren't used as often anymore but it sure works well in your space. I like the way it both frames the window and calls back to the archway over the open peninsula. Just lovely!

Pretty! Not sure if it's already been asked or maybe said. But what brand are your cabinets?

You did a wise and beautiful reno! Moving the stairs made a huge functional difference for the kitchen and the frig wall. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy it!

What an absolutely beautiful transformation! I love everything.mespecially your stove and amazing counters! Enjoy!

That's just a beautiful outcome! Add me to the list of people who like the soffit--it makes the wonderful swath of countertop seem somehow more intimate. Every time I go back and look at your photos (which has been more than I care to admit) I find more great details.

I'm especially happy to see a Neolith kitchen, as we're strongly leaning towards the honed Calacatta, with an aggravatingly non-helpful dealer/fabricator being the primary impediment. Any highlights or problems so far? Did you go to the templating to decide where you wanted the pattern to fall? Any trouble with the sink height given that the counter is thinner than granite and quartz? Any chipping or scratching, which has been mentioned here? It sure looks fantastic.

Wow. What an eye you have. The little curved counter is perfect. Add me to the soffit and Blue Star range love.

AvatarWalt (and anyone else curious) Here's my take on Neolith. First of all I came to it because the cabinet rep/designer spent 20 + years in the stone industry and when we came across it she was floored at how much it looked like real marble. Then add in all the durability and nonporous features and it seemed like a miracle product. I thought the look was perfect. Since we have 2 long stretches of counter, I wanted some movement and drama.

We knew going in that we are early adopters of this product (i believe the polished slabs of these came out in April). So, we know it's a risk. It's either going to really pay off or be an expensive mistake. And we're ok with that because of what I mentioned above.

We live in the Chicago area so we had choices. We saw the slabs in person at the stone company, so I picked the 2 I wanted. We also told the stone place that we'd want them to 'run' in the same direction. Finding a fabricator is tricky, because they need a different blade to cut it. We ended up getting 3 quotes of wildly different $$$. But one was reasonable and had done it before so we went with him. When quartz and ceaserstone came out, it was hard to get fabricators to install too, according to my cabinet rep.

As far as install and how it's worn: We have a half inch of plywood on top of the cabinets and the neolith is installed on top, with an 1-2 inch overhang, depending on where (peninsula is 2 inches). Scratches...we don't have any yet. I did beat the heck out of the sample we got and could not scratch it even when I really tried. We might get some in the future, but that's ok. Chips...there are a few very small chips but they are on the underside by the peninsula overhang, not on the polished part.

For the sink, we have a farmhouse sink and we did a slight overlap over it.

We love the counters!! It was exactly what we were looking for and get a lot of compliments and questions about them.

Beautiful! Love the range color and all the lighting levels. It's white and streamlined but yet still warm. Enjoy!

So bright and cheery! Love the range choice. Very well done.

How long did this beautiful change take? I love white for small kitchens and your curved countertop. What size and kind of farmhouse sink is that? Does it feel different compared to your previous sink? We are considering a white farmhouse sink or stainless steel.

To answer some questions...it took 10 weeks. Would have been 2 weeks earlier except we hit a snag with the flooring. The cabinets are Urban Effects and they're a Norcraft company.

What a lovely kitchen! The range is the star, but all the other components are well thought out and meld to create a cheery and functional space. Great job! Thanks for sharing.

Edited to add that the closet/mud room idea was genius ;)

Genius. And beautiful. Congratulations!

Jojo-- Thanks so much for the detailed Neolith info. Like you, I've heaped abuse on some samples with no damage done, and it seems like a great product. When you say you picked your slabs, did you see differences among them? I was under the impression that they're all the same, but there aren't any locally in Seattle I can go look at so that adds a bit of a gamble to an already-new product.

You're lucky to have had several options for fabrication; as far as I know there's only one dealer/fabricator in our area, and their lack of response is beyond frustrating. I've literally had much better luck in getting information and samples from Spain than from the local dealer.

They are all the same, but we needed 2 that were in the same direction. So there was a 'left' and a 'right.' I don't totally get it, but when we reserved them he wanted to be sure he was reserving the right 2.

It's absolutely beautiful, what a difference from the before! I love how you opened it up so that you can see the door with all that light, and the closet is just perfect. The counters are gorgeous and considering how hard it is to get information on Neolith and personal experiences with it, I really appreciate you sharing. :-)

It turned out so beautiful! The counters are so pretty! So happy to finally see a Neolith Calacatta kitchen. Have you had any scratching issues?

We don't have any scratches. They were installed in early August and we've been actively using the kitchen for about 3 weeks.

What an absolutely gorgeous transformation! I just don't even know what to comment on first. Of course the Blue Star would be the obvious show stopper (because it's to die for!), but I'm not so sure....there is some definite competition! The windows & door and all that light and the way the kitchen is opened up is just remarkable. I am so pleased to see some Neolith! It is absolutely beautiful and I'm glad to hear you love it. Just love that shiny faucet and the pendants too. Oh...I also really like the way you put the recessed lights in that small soffit (?).

Hi jojo, just checking in on your Neolith! Do you still love it? Any scratches? Just need a little more confidence to be able to pull the trigger!

I do still love it! I have found one scratch because I'm constantly looking for them because of this forum. You would have a hard time finding it. I told my husband the general vicinity of where it was and he couldn't find it. The scratches on this are different than scratches on a glass table (which I have and has scratches that are very noticeable). The product is white and has all these gray variations to it. So unless you're really looking, it's almost impossible to see because of all the other visual interest.

It is super easy to clean up and still has a very reflective look to it.

I don't want to be the one that 'pushes' you to get it. But for us, it was still definitely the right choice.

Very nice:)

Hi Jojo so glad to hear you still love it and scratching hasn't been an issue. Are you careful not to slide plates and dishes on it when you're doing the dishes, etc., or do you treat it just like normal granite? And final question, if you don't mind. I can't tell from the pictures because they are small, but do you have any sort of mitered edge? I was worried about the chipping showing along the mitered edge. Thanks so much!

I'm not particularly careful. I have 2 boys...7 and 5 so I can only be so careful! Anything sitting on the counter, has padded feet, but I'd do that on any surface. I don't have any mitered edges.

I love your pulls and handles, do you have any info on them available? Also, are you happy with your choice of faucet? It looks like the Brantford style we chose.

jojo, we are about to pull the trigger on polished Neolith and I am just wondering after nearly a year how yours is holding up. Has it sustained any more scratches beyond the small one you mentioned above? We also have two young kids who will be baking/cooking so my only hesitation with getting this material is what I've read on this forum. Would love to hear your take on how yours has held up. Beautiful kitchen!

@pipdog the picture above was taken this morning. I LOVE the neolith and get compliments on it all the time. It looks beautiful and anything can be cleaned up on it (permanent marker even!). If I look, I can see some surface (when you rub your hand over, you don't feel them) scratches in some places at certain angles. I can't see them in the pic above, even though they're there. It may slightly scratch like glass, but unlike glass this is white (not clear) and with all the variations in the design, your eye does not notice it. I have 2 young boys and they're not delicate with the countertop and a handful of surface scratches is what we have a year later. For us, it was absolutely the right choice and fit everything we wanted in a countertop....good looking and durable. Good Luck on your decision!

@leodreams the cup pulls are the Gilmore from Restoration Hardware. The glass knobs are Keeler. The faucet is actually Artifacts from Kohler and we are really happy with it. Good luck with your remodel!

thanks for your feedback, jojo! It looks stunning in your kitchen and I'm glad to hear it's holding up. I don't mind a few scratches here and there. Is yours the Calacatta or Estaturio?

@pipdog it's Calacatta polished